A personal, public mission

Couple draw on heritage to save baby sea turtles

Siouxzen Whitecloud recently honored that American Indian legend, part of her multicultural heritage, by saving five threatened sea turtle hatchlings she found heading for certain death.

"These turtles are beholden to the environment and they're being encroached upon," said Whitecloud, 46, who is half Lakota Indian. "I didn't realize the magnitude."

The five she saved belonged to a loggerhead turtle nest with almost 100 disoriented hatchlings that wound up roaming near the Deerfield Beach International Pier on July 10. The incident prompted Siouxzen and her husband, Richard Whitecloud, not only to watch over the sea turtle nests near their Deerfield Beach home, but also strive to hold government officials accountable for disregarding what they consider an environmental sanctuary.

"Either you want to protect the species and you're called on it, or you don't. Actions speak the loudest," said Siouxzen Whitecloud.

City and county officials acknowledge that bright lights along Ocean Boulevard caused the hatchlings to stray. In response, the city disabled several streetlights and the pier parking lot lights and cited various beachfront businesses for code violations.

On July 23, city employees walked along the beach with a representative from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to spot problematic lights.

On Tuesday, the City Commission unanimously passed amendments strengthening the city's beach lighting ordinance to hold property owners more accountable for bright lights.

All that is not enough for the Whiteclouds, however. Besides stricter code enforcement, they say they want to know who championed what they see as uncontrolled beach development and who allowed the city to ignore years' worth of surveys that pinpoint problematic lights along the beach.

"For the last seven years, their work was done in vain," Richard Whitecloud said of the Nova Southeastern University staff that conducts the surveys.

City spokeswoman Rami Altherr said the code enforcement officer who oversees sea turtle protection already had open cases under investigation for bright lights, and that the department takes violations seriously.

For the Whiteclouds, the sea turtle is a sacred animal. According to a Lakota legend, the creator chose four animals to help create a new world - a loon dove, otter, beaver and turtle. Only the turtle succeeded in diving into flood waters to retrieve a lump of mud, from which the creator formed an island. The creator named the land Turtle Continent, which represents North America, Richard Whitecloud said.

Like the turtle legend, the disoriented sea turtle hatchling story is not new. For years, state and county environmental experts have pleaded with local governments and residents to adopt and enforce local laws regulating beach lighting.

Sea turtle hatchlings often mistake bright lights on the beach for the moon, their beacon to the sea. They stagger toward the artificial halos - lights shining from homes, restaurants, parking lots, streets, just to name a few - and find themselves on State Road A1A instead of in the Atlantic Ocean. Death soon follows.

Siouxzen Whitecloud discovered hatchling tracks on July 10 while on her way to the sunrise yoga class she teaches on the beach near Northeast Seventh Street. Following the marks, she wound up by the Deerfield Beach International Pier parking lot, where dozens of sea turtle hatchlings wandered about.

A pier employee and Gumbo Limbo Nature Center worker had already begun gathering the hatchlings in buckets and releasing them into the ocean. Whitecloud returned to where she first saw the tracks and spent an hour and a half searching for lost turtles there.

Two turtle hatchlings from the same nest were later found dead. One documented in the county turtle incident report wound up in a storm grate. Commissioner Pam Militello saw another by the 7-Eleven store on A1A, near the pier, said City Manager Mike Mahaney.

Once just artists enjoying warm winters in Deerfield Beach, the Whiteclouds have now adopted the sea turtle cause as their own. The couple sleep in shifts so one person is always watching the sea turtle nests near their home. They have delayed moving to New Mexico until after sea turtle nesting seasons ends in October. The two have contacted environmental activists, attorneys and local and federal officials to seek help in protecting the nests.

"We're killing everything, and is that all right? No," Siouxzen Whitecloud said. "Our right was to come here and enjoy and live in harmony, nurture forward and become deeper spiritually."

Hemmy So can be reached at hso@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4552.

INFORMATIONAL BOX:

TURTLE WATCH

The Whiteclouds are seeking volunteers to watch turtle nesting sites in three-hour shifts during the night. To volunteer, e-mail Richard Whitecloud at rwhitecloud@earthlink.net.

If you see disoriented sea turtle hatchlings, call the Broward County Sea Turtle Hotline at 954-328-0580.